Chapter 1:

All I could hear was her voice. It seemed, to me, the most reasonable thing to hear. The divine beauty of her voice telling us to gather crystals. The voice belonged to the Goddess of Harmony - Cosmos. It hadn't been long since that request was given to me and the rest of her chosen warriors.

I smiled and tilted the brim of my bright red hat forward. I could feel the stares of my companions. They were probably curious to why I was smiling. I gave all three of them a separate look as we continued to walk down the aisle of what appeared to be a train.

"What's tickled you?" asked Ashe.

She wasn't a hard one to read, at least not for me and my vast intelligence. She gave off a strong sense of duty and determination, although she remained proud and independent.

"Why, the joy of a quest of course," I replied, a hint of sarcasm in my voice.

The young woman looked to our other two companions in turn, as if asking if she should take my response sitting down. I saw the faint smile of our youngest companion - Brandt. Lightning, however, was scolding as always. I could tell the pink-haired warrior had something to say, but kept her mouth shut. If it didn't have anything to do with her, she didn't get involved - or so I assumed. Even for someone with brains like me, it was hard to tell how Lightning was feeling or what she was thinking.

"I merely jest," I finally told everyone. "I was simply thinking of how right it was for Cosmos to place her trust in us."

Brandt nodded. "I have to agree," he said with a smile.

Ever-optimistic, as always. Brandt was a gifted youth, although rough and juvenile at times.

"Yes," Ashe added to his statement. "I concur."

That brought my eyes to rest on Lightning, whom hadn't spoken more than a few words since we left sanctuary together.

"And you, my lady?" I asked her.

"Tch," was all the response I got out of her. As expected, of course. One cannot blame me for trying, though.

"Of course that would be your answer," I teased. I saw Ashe and Brandt trade glances, and Lightning stopped in her place. She was always one to take everything seriously, so I guess she found some sort of disrespect in my reply.

"Oh I'm sorry, Mr. Red Mage," she replied, with angry sarcasm. "Was my answer not good enough for you? It might just be me, but I don't find interest in dwelling on the useless and unimportant."

"You would say that the word of the Goddess is not important?" I shot back, also stopping in my tracks. Ashe and Brandt also stopped, it seemed that they didn't want to be caught in the middle of our argument, but they couldn't very well continue without us.

"No, I would say her trust is," Lightning said, taking a step forward. "Regardless of what she may think of us, what's going to happen will. The words of Goddess do not shape your future. You decide your own fate, I do anyways."

That put me at a loss for words, which is by no means a common occurrence for me. Which is why I was thankful for Brandt's interruption. "C'mon guys," he said to us. "The last thing we want to be doing is arguing."

Ashe nodded in agreement. "Especially in this world," she added. "We need our allies, and, just as importantly, to find our crystals."

Lightning continued to look me in the eye, and I looked her back. Another moment of tension passed before she turned around and continued to walk in the direction we had before stopping. I looked to my other two comrades. Brandt walked, and Ashe gave me a quite perplexing look. I shrugged it off before waving my red cape forward to indicate we should walk after them, which we did.

With Brandt and Lightning walking ahead of us, Ashe began to speak softly. "You know," she began. I could already see where this is going and felt the smile run across my face. "You really shouldn't mess with Lightning like that. If you hadn't noticed, she is quite… explosive. To say the least."

I chuckled. This girl had thought it had gotten past me. "You underestimate me," I told her. "I realize this, I really do. You see, I take interest in educating things. Lightning had to be educated in the way of her status."

Ashe threw me a puzzled look. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Then it was my turn to throw her a look of confusion. Surely she had noticed, or was she just that wrapped up, in herself and what she needs to do, to notice? "You can't be serious," I exclaimed. The look on her face told me she was, indeed, serious. "Have you not seen her on her high horse? I needed to educate her in the sense that she is not as far above everyone else as she may assume."

Ashe made a quick glance toward Lightning, then back to me. I too looked forward. It appeared young Brandt had engaged Lightning in a conversation – which she didn't seem quite too happy with. "I don't think that's the case," the sandy-blond haired girl finally said. "I think she just has her hands full with herself."

I thought about that for a moment. I hadn't considered that. Maybe Ashe was as dim as I had thought, maybe there was more to her. To make an observation like that she had have some kind of intelligence about her. I placed my pointer finger and thumb around my chin and closed my eyes. No, Lightning was much too free-minded to be anything but conceited. I opened my eyes and looked to Ashe, she could be right though. "I commend your scrutiny," I told her. "I hadn't contemplated that of her."

Ashe grew a smile that lasted but a fraction of a second. "But I hardly think it's our business to continue discussing," she said.

"Hm," I began. "Perhaps you are right."

Silence fell upon us from then on. The path through this wicked train had been much longer than it had appeared, yet we continued – our trek far from complete. It hadn't taken long for the Warriors of Chaos to catch on to us – which is why I don't understand why I was so surprised when they appeared.

I felt the blow to my side before I was sent through the air and high speeds. I hit the ground hard, but quickly got up, and just in time to throw my sword up and block an incoming attack.

"I'm sorry," are the words that came out of my adversary's mouth as his massive blade lay against mine. This perplexed me, a Warrior of Chaos apologizing as their first act in a battle. I didn't dwell on it too much – I had no time to. I struggled to push back the weapon of the man who had attacked me, and eventually gave in by rolling to the side to avoid instead. It was the smart thing to do, I realized as I heard the loud clang of his sword hit the ground. I looked at the man, and my mind began to read him. His spiky, blond hair was almost bizarre, but what really caught my attention were his eyes- so sky-blue and filled with despair. To me, this man seemed more sad than evil. Regardless, as a Warrior of Chaos, he had to be taken down.

"You apologize for taking up your sword to an enemy?" I asked him.

"….." was his response. I didn't understand, why ambush me and apologize for it? I looked back at the others – each locked in a battle of their own.

"I do not understand you, boy," I told him, as he stood there, waiting for me to make my move. Still no response. "But, all of Chaos's Warriors are equal I suppose."

I readied my rapier, and he finally spoke. "I don't need you to understand me," he told me before he charged into battle.